During a season that gives many the choice of trick or treat, the staff of the GOALS Adventure Racing Association served up plenty of both during the 2005 Edge Adventure Race. Typical of a GOALS ARA race, teams were pushed from the very beginning.

With a randomized start and a central transition area, there was a ton of activity for families and spectators. The music and crowds kept the teams energized and the smiles returned to their faces at the completion of each discipline. However, the course was a friend to no one. With the random format, teams had no idea if they were ahead or behind another team. So, every team had to push as hard as they possibly could.

The lead teams considered the race to be like a time trial. They could never let up. They knew they were leading their section but had no way of judging how other teams were doing. It made for one of the hardest 20 mile sprint races yet this year.

At the sound of the start, the team captains had to sprint over a causeway and around a small lake to retrieve a passport. This would determine the sequence of their team’s race. They then had to rejoin their team and head out onto the course.

Teams battled it out over rocky trails on the orienteering section and wet, muddy, equestrian single and double track trails on the 11 mile biking section. High winds led to a shortened paddling section. But, the same high winds meant that the racers would be working harder for each mile. And finally, as if there wasn’t enough already, the team challenge section had a 20ft high cargo net, the infamous water pipes, and a wrist rocket range set up by the race director who is a certified Range Safety Officer. Talk about letting out your inner-child. For these racers, it was as if their inner child was let loose on a Halloween chocolate sugar rush with plenty of Red Bull and told to bring back as much of the trail as possible, preferably on their face and that thin stripe up their back.

Based on the weight and the smell of the bibs that will be reused for next year’s races, each and every racer needed hydration and electrolyte replacement, as well as a shower with plenty of soap.

Close to half of the 80 registered teams were first-time racers. Their excitement and enthusiasm was infectious, but there is a benefit to experience. The top places in the 3-person coed category all have been racing together for a number of years.

In addition to their heroic effort on the race course, racers raised over $2000 for the American Red Cross Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund. Adventure racers recognize the power of nature and its effect on them and those around them. They’re grateful for the ability to race and appreciate and support the help that is being provided to the people in the nation’s hurricane regions.

Results: 3-person Coed: Super Friends 3:58; 3-person Coed Masters: No Train, No Game: 4:34; 3-person Male: 2 Pizza Guys and a Clydesdale 3:59; 2-person Coed: Gravity Check: 3:59; 2-person Coed Masters: Culp Dogs: 4:26, 2-person Male: Too Many Kids: 3:42; 2-person Female: Third Degree: 5:28; 2-person Male Masters: Wenrich-Natisin: 4:13.

Get the Race Report as a PDF